Theorizing about social support and health communication in a prostate cancer support group.

This article inquires into whether and how uncertainty reduction theory and problematic integration theory, two theories relevant to social support as enacted within a chapter of the Man-to-Man prostate cancer support group, inform us of how such groups can assist group members most effectively. Interview data from members of a prostate cancer support group shed light on theoretical assumptions about uncertainty. Although the group applies elements of both theories, prostate cancer survivors likely would benefit from a more comprehensive and flexible treatment of social support theory.

Physicians, patients, and medical dialogue in the NYPD Blue prostate cancer story.

Extending literature on health information to entertainment television, we analyze the prostate cancer narrative presented in the police drama, NYPD Blue. We explain how the physician-patient interaction depicted on the show followed (and sometimes did not follow) the medical dialogue model. Findings reveal that the producers of this show advocate a more dialogic model of medical interaction.

Man to man and side by side, they cope with prostate cancer: self-help and social support.

Prostate cancer affects men and their loved ones; consequently, survivors and their wives can gain from social support throughout the illness experience. After observing meetings of a support group for prostate cancer survivors and their partners, the authors used the constant comparison method to draw conclusions about the types of support generated in the men's and women's divisions of the group. The authors concluded that both divisions served as sites of information but not as scenes of practical assistance.